China continues zero tariffs on coal imports

China's policy move that continues to implement zero tariffs on coal imports until the end of this year is expected to keep the energy supply stable and help lower costs for companies that rely on the use of imported coals, a finance official said.

Zhu Zhongming, vice-minister of finance, said at a Friday news conference that uncertainties in the energy market still remain. After thorough studies on domestic development conditions and changes in coal supply and demand, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has recently decided, in accordance with due procedures, to continue to implement zero tariffs on coal imports until the end of this year.

The move of policy continuation was announced after the State Council's executive meeting last Friday. China cut tariffs on coal to zero in May of 2022.

Noting that coal prices are still high, Zhu said the continuing zero tariffs on coal imports would help cut costs for enterprises that rely on coal imports. In addition, as coal takes the largest proportion of China's energy structure and imported coal plays a substantial part in coal consumption, keeping tariffs on imported coal at zero will help scale up China's coal imports.

This will also boost market competition of coal supply in the global market, he said.